Although it was written and directed by J.J. Abrams, "Super 8" walks, quacks and looks like a Steven Spielberg film, from its 1970s suburban small-town setting to its portrait of the loss of childhood innocence. And its space alien run amok is what happens when E.T. phones home and his bigger, meaner brother answers.

Make no mistake: Things that go bump in the night are integral to Abrams' work as well, from the smoke monster in "Lost" to the whatever-the-hell-that-was in "Cloverfield" (which Abrams produced), whose seen-through-a-camera-lens perspective "Super 8" also flirts with.

The group of kids in "Super 8" could be from "Goonies" or "Stand by Me" - a husky wannabe filmmaker, a braces-wearing pyromaniac, a troubled tomboy with a single dad, and the sensitive kid still mourning his mother's death. One night, after sneaking out past curfew to shoot scenes for a home movie, they witness and record a horrific train crash, during which thousands of Rubik's Cube-type geegaws are spilled.

The next day, the Army quarantines the site and a rash of unexplained phenomena are reported to a deputy sheriff played by Kyle Chandler.

Inevitably, the havoc unleashed by the military and an alien that escaped in the crash reaches digital overkill, familiar from technically amazing but aesthetically cluttered Spielberg films such as "War of the Worlds," "Minority Report" and "A.I. Artificial Intelligence."

The bifurcated "Super 8" is emotionally resonant before asserting its blockbuster aspirations. It has moments of pure movie poetry: The locations are beautifully realized, the period details are impeccably rendered, the kids - Joel Courtney, whose father is played by Chandler; Elle Fanning, whose father is played by Ron Eldard; and Ryan Lee, Zach Mills and Riley Griffiths - are precocious and sympathetic, and their fractious interactions and the blossoming romance between Courtney and Fanning are engaging. (Although the main characters' lack of mothers is downright Disney-esque.)

If not for some adult pot smoking and rough language, the PG-13-rated "Super 8" would be perfect for all ages.

As in "Cloverfield," Abrams plays hide-and-seek with the spidery lizardlike alien. It is seen furtively even in the big reveal, in which Courtney - after some Indiana Jones-caliber heroics - inexplicably communicates with it.

Like E.T., it just wants to go home, and Spielberg and Abrams ensure that it destroys as much scenery as possible in the process.